13 BEST Things to Do in Seville for First-Time Visitors (And What To Skip!)

Palacio de las Dueñas

📍 Address: Calle Dueñas, 5, Casco Antiguo, 41003 Sevilla, Spain
🕜 Opening Hours: 10:00–18:00 (October to March) and 10:00–19:00 (April to September). Last entry 45 min before closing.
💸 Cost: €15 for general admission, €11 reduced ticket (children 6-16, students 25 and under, seniors 65+). Free entry for children under 6.
🗓️ Advance Booking? Not necessary, but recommended during peak season.
🎟️ Booking Tips: Book your entry ticket online here or book your ticket with a guided tour here.
⏰ Time needed: 1–1.5 hours
☀️ Best Time to Visit: One to two hours before closing for the best light in the courtyards
🗺️ Nearby Attractions: Las Setas

If you only visit one palace in Seville beyond the Alcázar, make it this one! For me, the Palacio de las Dueñas is easily one of the best things to do in Seville beyond the Alcázar and the Cathedral.

Palacio de las Dueñas is the Seville home of the House of Alba, one of Spain’s most storied and prominent noble families, and it is absolutely spectacular. It opened to the public in 2016 and has become one of Seville’s most loved palace visits. There’s art on the walls, personal photographs on side tables, and a sense of real life running through the rooms that makes the whole experience feel unusually intimate.

The palace was built between the 15th and 16th centuries on the site of the former Monastery of Santa María de las Dueñas, from which it takes its name. It was originally owned by the Pineda family, who were forced to sell it urgently after one of their own was kidnapped and they needed to raise the ransom. After the marriage of the 5th Marchioness of Villanueva del Río to the 4th Duke of Alba in 1612, it passed into the hands of the House of Alba and has remained there ever since.

Over the centuries the palace has welcomed an extraordinary roster of visitors: Jacqueline Kennedy, Grace Kelly, Rainier of Monaco, Alfonso XIII, and Wallis Simpson among them. It was also the favourite Sevillian residence of Cayetana de Alba, the charismatic 18th Duchess of Alba, who died in 2014 and whose presence still feels very much alive throughout the palace.

The poet Antonio Machado, one of the most celebrated figures in Spanish literature, was born here in 1875, when his father worked as an administrator for the Duke of Alba. There’s a small tribute to him within the palace.

The palace is a beautiful example of Gothic-Mudéjar and Renaissance architecture, built around a series of courtyards and gardens that open up one after another as you move through the complex. The central courtyard is particularly lovely and my personal favourite — vibrant yellow walls, Mudéjar arches, ornate tilework, and lush planting that gives the whole space a warmth and colour that feels distinctly Sevillian rather than formally palatial.

Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija

📍 Address: Calle Cuna, 8, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
🕜 Opening Hours:
💸 Cost: €15 for general admission, €8 for children aged 6-12. Free entry for children under 6.
🗓️ Advance Booking? Not required.
🎟️ Booking Tips: Book your ticket in advance on the official website and choose the best time slot!
⏰ Time needed: 1–1.5 hours
☀️ Best Time to Visit: Weekday mornings (excluding Friday) for the quietest experience.
🗺️ Nearby Attractions: Las Setas

This one is quite a hidden gem in Seville, and I say that as someone who is usually quite sceptical of that phrase (it definitely gets misused). While most people know about the Casa de Pilatos and everyone’s off to the Alcazar, many people never hear about this palace or add it to their Seville itinerary.

The Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija (Palace of the Countess of Lebrija) is a 16th-century palace tucked along Calle Cuna, one of the streets running parallel to the famous Calle Sierpes shopping street, and the vast majority of visitors to Seville walk straight past it without ever knowing it exists. 

The palace was originally a typical Sevillian mansion, and in 1901, it was purchased by Regla Manjón Mergelina, the Countess of Lebrija, a woman of considerable passion, intellect, and archaeological ambition. She spent the following decades transforming the palace into a showcase for her extraordinary collection, which she had amassed through a lifetime of travel and excavation. 

By the time she was finished, she had installed Roman mosaics from the nearby ancient city of Italica directly into the floors of the palace’s main rooms, lined the walls with 16th-century azulejos salvaged from ruined convents, and filled the space with classical statues, Louis XIV and Louis XVI furniture, Persian ceramics, Greek and Etruscan artefacts, and paintings from the Murillo school and beyond.

Frommer’s Guide to Seville describes the Countess as “a formidable woman who knew exactly what she wanted,” and looking at what she built, it’s very hard to argue with that assessment. Considering it was also in an era that women were still prevented from participating in scholarly pursuits, it’s even more impressive to see what she built.

The heart of the visit is the main patio, and it is extraordinary. The floor is covered in a near-flawless Roman mosaic dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, excavated from Italica and featuring depictions of the god Pan. The Mudéjar arches surrounding the courtyard are lined with traditional Triana azulejos, and the overall effect is one of the most visually striking interiors I’ve seen in Seville. 

The ground floor can be explored independently at your own pace and includes the main patio, a series of rooms displaying the Countess’s collection of Roman and ancient artefacts, ceramics, sculpture, and decorative arts. It’s really beautiful!

The upper floor, which includes the family’s private living quarters, an impressive carmine-coloured library, a chapel, and rooms decorated in Arabic and Asian styles, can only be visited on a guided tour. The guided tour is included in your ticket and they happen regularly throughout the day.

Archivo General de Indias

📍 Address: Avenida de la Constitución, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
🕜 Opening Hours: Closed Mondays. Open Tuesday to Saturday 09:30–16:30 and Sunday 10:00–13:30.
💸 Cost: Free!
⏰ Time needed: 30 minutes – 1 hour
☀️ Best Time to Visit: Weekday mornings (except Mondays)
🗺️ Nearby Attractions: Real Alcázar, Seville Cathedral, Plaza del Cabildo

So many visitors walk straight past the Archivo de Indias and this is, in my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes you can make in Seville.

I understand why it happens. It sits between the Cathedral and the Alcázar, two of the most visited monuments in Spain, and most people are either heading to one or recovering from the other. The building’s exterior, though beautiful, is relatively understated, at least compared to its neighbours. 

But if you’ve ever been curious about how Seville became the most powerful city in the world during the 16th century, this is the place that explains it better than anywhere else.

The building itself dates to 1572, commissioned by King Philip II and designed by Juan de Herrera, the same architect responsible for the austere grandeur of El Escorial near Madrid. It was originally built as the Lonja de Mercaderes, the Merchants’ Exchange of Seville, a dedicated space for the traders who were conducting the booming business of colonial commerce with the Americas.

The archive was established in 1785 by order of King Charles III, who wanted to centralise all documentation relating to Spain’s administration of its territories in the Americas and the Philippines in a single location. Documents were gathered from archives in Simancas, Cádiz, Madrid, and Seville itself, and what exists here today is the most comprehensive record of the Spanish Empire in the New World on earth.

The scale of what’s held here is genuinely staggering. The archive contains over 43,000 files, 80 million pages of documents, and 8,000 maps, stored across more than nine kilometres of shelving. The collection includes original handwritten letters and journals from Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa. 

The original Treaty of Tordesillas — the 1494 papal agreement that divided the newly discovered world between Spain and Portugal — is housed here. These documents are not on permanent public display, as they are preserved under strict archival conditions, but they appear in temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

The visit is free and takes around 30 to 45 minutes at a comfortable pace. You enter through the main lobby, pass a quick security check, and emerge into a beautiful square courtyard surrounded by two-storey arcaded galleries that flood the interior with light. The main staircase, dating from 1786, is spectacular; decorated with red, grey, and black jasper from Málaga and topped by a lantern dome.

The permanent display includes rotating exhibitions of documents from the collection, portraits of explorers and colonial administrators, and contextual material about the history of the Spanish Empire. Much of the signage is in Spanish only, which is worth knowing in advance, but the building is worth the visit regardless.

Torre del Oro

📍 Address: Paseo de Cristóbal Colón, Casco Antiguo, 41001 Sevilla, Spain
🕜 Opening Hours: Open Monday to Friday 09:30–19:00 and Saturday and Sunday 10:30–19:00.
💸 Cost: Free, but a donation is required. €5 is the suggested amount.
⏰ Time needed: 30-45 minutes
☀️ Best Time to Visit: Late afternoon for the golden light on the tower and reflections on the river
🗺️ Nearby Attractions: Archivo de Indias, Triana riverside walk

The Torre del Oro is one of Seville’s most recognisable landmarks, and it earns that status as much for what it has witnessed as for how it looks. This 13th-century watchtower has been standing on the banks of the Guadalquivir for over 800 years, and in that time it has served as a military fortification, a royal chapel, a prison for nobles, a gunpowder store, and the point from which ships laden with gold and silver from the Americas entered the city. It is now a Naval Museum, and it’s a great deal more interesting than it might initially sound.

I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t been inside myself. What I can tell you is that the exterior alone is worth your time, particularly in the late afternoon when the tower catches the light and earns its name in a way that’s striking. The riverside walk along the Paseo de Cristóbal Colón is lovely from this side of the river, and the views back towards the city from near the tower are among the best you’ll get at ground level.

The museum is spread across two floors and a rooftop terrace. The ground floor covers the history of the tower itself and Seville’s role in the Carrera de Indias, the trade route between Spain and the Americas, including a model of the Real Fernando, the first steamship built in Spain. The first floor traces the evolution of the Spanish Navy with nautical charts, navigation instruments, ship models, and documents related to the Age of Exploration, including Magellan and Elcano’s first circumnavigation of the globe. The rooftop terrace offers panoramic views over the Guadalquivir, across to Triana, and back towards the Cathedral and Giralda.

Note that the tower has narrow, winding staircases and no lift, making the upper levels inaccessible for visitors with mobility limitations. The ground floor is accessible.

Best Free Things To Do in Seville

One of the best things about Seville is that you can enjoy a lot of the city without spending much. Some of the most memorable first-time experiences are completely free!

Where To Eat in Seville

Seville is a tapas city, and eating here is very much part of the experience rather than just a practical stop between attractions. The city has a vibrant food culture, and the quality of even a casual lunch at a side-street bar can be very good.

Before we get into specific recommendations, there are two dishes you really shouldn’t leave Seville (or, to be more precise, Andalucía) without trying. The first is salmorejo, a cold, thick tomato and bread soup that’s similar to gazpacho but richer and (in my personal opinion) considerably better. It’s typically topped with hard-boiled egg and cured ham, and it appears on almost every menu in the city. 

The second is flamenquín, a dish unique to Andalucía: pork loin rolled with jamón serrano, then breaded and deep-fried. It sounds simple and it is, but it’s seriously delicious. Just don’t eat too many, otherwise your doctor probably wouldn’t be best pleased!

Best Tapas Spots in Seville

Casa Tomate

📍 Address: Calle Mateos Gago, 24, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
🕜 Opening Hours: Open daily 12:00–00:00
💸 Cost: Around €10-20 per person

Casa Tomate (yes, its name does indeed translate to “Tomato House”) is one of those places that gets most things right at once: good food, a great atmosphere, and a location that’s incredibly central given how close it is to the Cathedral. It’s the kind of spot that works equally well for a casual lunch or a longer, lazier dinner, and it draws a good mix of locals and visitors without feeling like it’s aimed exclusively at drawing in tourists.

The menu leans into modern Andalusian cooking rather than sticking strictly to the classics. On our visit we had grilled octopus with truffled potato cream, pork sirloin (solomillo) in a whisky sauce, huevos rotos with ibérico ham and chips, and carrillada (slow-cooked pork cheek), which was the standout of the meal. The food is confident without being showy, and the portions are generous by tapas standards.

No booking required, just turn up. It does get busy, particularly in the evenings, so arriving slightly ahead of peak time can work in your favour.

Perro Viejo

📍 Address: Calle Arguijo, 3, Casco Antiguo, 41003 Sevilla, Spain
🕜 Opening Hours: Open Monday to Thursday 13:00–16:00 and 20:00–23:00 and Friday to Sunday 13:00–16:00 and 20:00–00:00
💸 Cost: Around €15-30 per person

Perro Viejo is tucked down a side street, which keeps it a little quieter than some of the more central tapas spots and gives it a more relaxed, neighbourhood feel. We visited for lunch, and it was a great accidental find as we were just looking for something near to where we’d just been (Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija) that wasn’t completely and utterly rammed with people.

You can also book a table in advance, which is ideal if you want to make sure you won’t be waiting around, or if you’re travelling in a larger group.

The menu is interesting because it covers a wider range than you might expect. There are the Andalusian classics — salmorejo, croquetas, that kind of thing — but also some more creative dishes alongside them. We had the taco Mexicali de merluza frita con crema de aguacate (a fried hake taco with avocado cream that was seriously delicious), ensaladilla clásica de langostinos (a traditional egg and potato salad topped with prawns, simple and very good), and pollo yakitori con trigo de bulgur. The range shouldn’t work as well as it does, and yet it does.

It’s a good choice if you want something slightly off the main tourist circuit without sacrificing quality.

Best Brunch Restaurants in Seville

La Mala Brunch

📍Address: Calle Rivero, 7, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
🕜Opening Hours: Open daily 09:00–19:00
💸Cost: Around €10-20 per person

La Mala Brunch has a few locations across Seville, which tells you something about how popular it’s become. It’s a relaxed, casual spot that does brunch properly. The eggs Benedict (honestly I am an eggs Benedict fiend, how delicious are they?!) I had were seriously tasty, properly made and well-seasoned, and definitely enough to fuel you for a day of sightseeing!

The Rivero branch is ideal for being close to Las Setas and the Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija, while the Santa Cruz branch is right near the Real Alcázar. 

Moya Brunch

📍Address: Calle Santa María la Blanca, 20, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
🕜Opening Hours: Open daily 08:00–20:30
💸Cost: Around €10-20 per person

Moya Brunch is the one to go to if you need a proper iced coffee situation sorted out, which in Seville’s warmer months is rather a non-trivial concern. 

The food is good too (always important). I had the salmon toast, which was fresh and well put together, plus there are solid vegan options on the menu for anyone who wants them. The location near the Alcázar is a bonus, making it a good starting point for a morning of sightseeing. It also opens at 8am, making it ideal if you want to have a delicious breakfast before getting early entry to the Alcázar.

If you’re looking for a good cafe to sit and relax at, fuel yourself with a tasty pastry, or enjoy a good coffee to caffeinate you for the day, here are a few that I’ve visited on my trips to Seville and recommend:

☕️ De Nata (the most delicious pastéis de nata!)
☕️ COLETTE (a French style bakery and patisserie with great coffee)
☕️Cafe Moma (great coffee spot that also serves brunch)

A note on eating times in Seville 

This is one of the most useful things to know before you visit Seville, and it catches almost every first-time visitor to Andalusia off guard.

Locals do not eat dinner early. Most Sevillanos won’t head out until 9pm or later, which means that a tapas bar that looks quiet at 7pm or 8pm is not necessarily bad, it just hasn’t woken up yet! As a rough rule of thumb, if a place is packed at 7:30pm, it’s likely more popular with tourists than with locals. If it fills up after 9pm, you’re probably onto something good.

On our visits we tended to head out around 8:00–8:30pm, which felt like a reasonable compromise between eating at a vaguely Spanish hour and not being absolutely ravenous.

Things To Know Before Visiting Seville

Avoid visiting Seville in summer

Seville has a well-earned reputation as one of the hottest cities in Europe, and in summer that reputation becomes very personal, very quickly.

August is the worst month. Full stop. The city is known locally as an “infierno” (hell) in summer and it earns the nickname. Temperatures regularly exceed 40°C, the streets radiate heat well into the night, and many locals leave the city entirely, which means some businesses and restaurants operate on reduced hours or close altogether. July is not much better. 

If you’re visiting between late June and early September, you will spend a significant portion of each day simply trying to find shade and cold water, and sightseeing in the middle of the day becomes rather unpleasant instead of just warm.

My personal cut-off is May. After that, the heat starts to tip from enjoyable into exhausting, at least for someone who really just doesn’t have the energy to shower three times a day.

The months I’d actually recommend are February, March, October, and November. The temperatures are far more comfortable for walking and sightseeing, the tourist crowds are noticeably thinner, and the city feels more like itself. 

Spring (particularly March and April) is beautiful, though be aware that Semana Santa (Holy Week) and the Feria de Abril draw enormous crowds and push accommodation prices up significantly, which is definitely worth knowing when you’re planning.

Skip the horse and carriage ride 

This is one I feel strongly about, so I’m going to just say it plainly: please don’t take a horse and carriage ride in Seville.

The carriages are a prominent feature of the city, particularly around the Cathedral and the Alcázar, and they look picturesque enough that they attract a lot of tourist interest. 

But the welfare concerns around these horses are well-documented and serious. Horses are regularly worked for long hours in extreme heat, on hard cobbled streets, in heavy traffic, with stables reportedly located over 10 kilometres from the city centre. 

Reports of dehydration, exhaustion, and distress are consistent and ongoing, including incidents during summer months where horses have collapsed and died while working.

Barcelona has already banned horse-drawn carriages. Palma de Mallorca followed. Seville has not, despite pressure from animal welfare organisations, and despite many local residents expressing frustration that nothing has changed.

The city is very walkable, and there are much better ways to get around: on foot, by bicycle, or by e-scooter. Trams and buses cover the routes that are too far to walk comfortably. None of these options come at an animal’s expense.

If you’d like to read more about the welfare concerns before you visit, these are worth looking at:

• Journey of a Nomadic Family: Why horse carriage rides should be banned in Seville
• Lady Freethinker: Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages in Seville
• TripAdvisor forum: Disturbing Treatment of Carriage Horses in Seville

Book the Alcázar, Cathedral & Giralda in advance 

The Real Alcázar is the one to prioritise above everything else. It sells out, often weeks ahead during peak season, and there is no guaranteed same-day availability. 

Book as far in advance as you possibly can, and a minimum of two to four weeks ahead during busy periods is a sensible baseline, but earlier is better. Book your Alcázar tickets here!

The Cathedral and Giralda (sold as a combined ticket) are also worth booking in advance, though you have slightly more flexibility here than with the Alcázar. 

For most other attractions on this list, booking a few days ahead or even on the day is usually fine outside of peak season. During the busier spring and summer months, it’s worth checking availability a little earlier, but none of the other palaces or museums carry quite the same level of demand as the Alcázar.

Eating times run late

As I covered in the eating section above, Seville runs on a significantly later schedule than most visitors expect. Locals won’t typically head out for dinner until 9pm or later,so  tapas bars that look empty at 7:30pm are not bad,  they just haven’t started yet! Arriving at a restaurant at 6pm will mostly earn you confused looks and a very quiet dining room, if it’s even open at all.

For a first visit, aiming for 8:00–8:30pm for dinner is a reasonable middle ground: a bit earlier than locals, but late enough to feel like you’re eating at a Spanish hour rather than an early bird special.

Where to stay in Seville

Seville’s various neighbourhoods all have a different feel, and where you choose to stay will mainly depend on your budget and your priorities for the trip. 

The historic centre puts you closest to the main attractions and the best tapas bars, but it does come with the noise and bustle you’d expect from a major European city. 

If you want something slightly more local in atmosphere, areas like Alameda de Hércules or just outside the immediate tourist centre give you a more neighbourhood feel without sacrificing easy access to the sights.

Here are a few of my favourite places to stay in Seville!

This is a great mid-range option in a fantastic location, right on the Plaza de la Encarnación, which means you are essentially on the doorstep of the Metropol Parasol. The view of Las Setas from the hotel is seriously cool, plus there’s also a rooftop bar and pool area. 

It’s a four-star hotel with modern, comfortable rooms, and the central location makes it ideal for exploring the whole historic centre on foot. Worth requesting a room facing the plaza if you can, as the Setas at night is quite a sight!

If you’re after something with real character at a more budget-friendly price, this is a lovely option. The hotel is housed in a beautiful 18th-century vestry (that’s what “sacristía” means, it’s the room in a church where vestments and sacred objects are kept), and the architecture and decor reflect that history in a way that feels charming rather than themed. 

It’s located near the Alameda de Hércules, which puts you slightly further from the Cathedral than some of the other options here, but still very much within easy walking distance. The rooms are individually decorated, the beds are comfortable, and the atmosphere is calm and characterful.

A solid, centrally located three-star hotel that offers really good value. It’s a ten-minute walk from the Cathedral, sits close to the Guadalquivir River, and has free bikes available for guests, which is a rather useful perk in a city this walkable and cycle-friendly. 

Family rooms are available, breakfast is tasty, and it’s pet-friendly too. It’s the kind of hotel that doesn’t overcomplicate things: good location, clean comfortable rooms, helpful staff, fair price. Petit Palace is a small Spanish chain of hotels that are all located in unique and historic buildings, so they’re always a good brand to choose!

This is my pick for the best balance of location, quality, and value in Seville. It’s a four-star hotel in a converted 19th-century building in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood, a five-minute walk from the Alcázar and the Cathedral. It has a rooftop pool with views of the Giralda that is, frankly, a very good reason to come back to the hotel mid-afternoon. 

The rooms are well-decorated and comfortable, the breakfast is good, and the staff consistently get excellent reviews. It’s the kind of hotel that makes you feel like you’ve chosen well.

I haven’t stayed here myself yet, but it’s firmly on my list for my next Seville trip. The Querencia is a four-star Marriott Autograph Collection hotel housed in a converted former bank building in the historic centre, and it looks beautiful. 

The rooftop bar and pool offer some of the best views of the Cathedral and the Giralda in the city, and the design is a lovely blend of Art Deco architecture and Andalusian detail. For a special trip or a step up in comfort, this one looks very much worth it.

If you want to splurge on something truly iconic, this is it. Hotel Alfonso XIII is one of the most famous hotels in Spain: a five-star Luxury Collection property built in 1928 for King Alfonso XIII, who commissioned it to provide accommodation for visiting dignitaries during the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. 

It sits right next to the Alcázar and the Cathedral, and the building itself is a landmark. I haven’t stayed here (the price tag is, shall we say, aspirational), though we did once consider it as a potential wedding venue, which would have been rather spectacular! The interior courtyard alone is worth a visit if you’re passing.

This one is a slightly different recommendation for a specific type of traveller: if you’re doing an Andalucía road trip and arriving in Seville by car, the NH Collection is very conveniently located close to the main road towards the motorway, and it sits right next to a large public parking garage, which is really quite useful in a city where parking in the historic centre is a challenge. 

It’s a solid four-star option with good amenities, and the practical logistics make it a strong choice if driving is part of your trip.

So, Ready to Plan Your Seville Trip?

Seville is one of those cities that earns its reputation. The monuments are spectacular, the food is excellent, the streets are endlessly wanderable, and the city has a way of getting under your skin in a way that’s hard to explain until you’ve experienced it yourself. I’ve been four times already myself, and writing this has made me want to book my fifth and sixth stay, pronto. 

Now that you have a solid list of the best things to do, where to eat, where to stay, and what to keep in mind before you go, the only thing left is to actually start planning.

A few things to do right now: book your Alcázar tickets (seriously, do this today), check availability for the Cathedral and Giralda, and start thinking about when you want to go. 

If you have any flexibility on timing, I can’t recommend October or November highly enough for first-time visitors. Comfortable temperatures, smaller crowds, and a city that feels more like itself than the depths of hell it resembles at the height of summer.

To help you find everything on this list without getting lost trying to remember which street the Plaza del Cabildo was on, I’ve created a free Google Map with all the locations from this post marked and ready to use. Drop your email below to get it sent straight to your inbox.

GET THE FREE SEVILLE MAP →

More Seville content is on the way, including a full one-day Seville itinerary and my guide to where to stay in Seville in more detail. Save this post for when you’re planning, and feel free to come back to it!

Seville, you’re worth every bit of the hype.